Colleen Beppler sways gently back and forth on the white porch swing at her Scranton home with one of her daughters, Maura, by her side.

She listens quietly as Maura reads aloud a message on the paper in her hand, a letter she penned to explain why she has such a wonderful mother.

"She is a beautiful, amazing and kind-hearted person," Maura reads. "She loves her children and grandchildren. She has raised us to be wonderful young women, and I hope to be half the mother she is."

Mrs. Beppler wraps an arm around her and kisses her cheek before they head back inside the comfortable Plot section house. A warmth radiates throughout the home, and it's not just from the unseasonable temperatures on this sunny spring day. It's coming instead from the 50-year-old mother of three girls and grandmother to two more whose daughter's letter was this year's winning Mother's Day essay for The Sunday Times.

Twenty-four-year-old Maura decided to submit her letter this year because the gesture would be a way to thank her mother "for all she's done and give her the recognition she deserves." Mrs. Beppler cried when learned what her daughter had done.

"I was so honored and touched that she would do something so sweet," Mrs. Beppler said.

Not surprising

The Bepplers' youngest daughter, 18-year-old Lauren, said she does not think her mother was surprised that one of her girls would have made that effort.

"She knows that we all love her so much," Lauren said.

One of seven children herself, Mrs. Beppler grew up in North Scranton and always wanted to have a family of her own.

"I had nieces and nephews growing up, so I just couldn't wait to have kids," said Mrs. Beppler, who works in domestic relations for Lackawanna County. "I kind of wish I had a couple more."

With her husband, Brian, she has made a home on an idyllic, tree-lined street, where white picket fences divide backyards and neighbors greet one another. Family mementos decorate the home, and Mrs. Beppler and her daughters laughed and wiped away tears while reminiscing about their time together.

Life hasn't always been easy for the family, but Mrs. Beppler's perseverance and leadership brought them through the tough times. In the late 1990s, Mrs. Beppler's mother and brother died six months apart. Then, in 2001, Mr. Beppler was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent surgery and radiation therapy. He survived, but the cancer returned two years ago and required chemotherapy and ongoing hormone shots.

The first bout with cancer was hard, Mrs. Beppler said, because their children were little. Telling the girls about the cancer's return was difficult because they were older, she added, and she wanted to try to shield them from it.

"But as (Maura) always says, 'I'm an adult now,'" Mrs. Beppler said. "But you try to get through it and wait until everything gets better so you don't have to kind of burden them with it."

Older now

It was a difficult time, Maura recalled, adding how she was worried about how, if her father died, her mother would be alone once her children grew up.

"Considering she gets very upset and cries and shows her emotions ... she found the strength inside to just be strong and put on a brave face for all of us," Maura said. "Because she knew the first time around that ... no matter what, she had to stay strong for us because we were at the age where we didn't necessarily know what was going to happen and didn't understand it fully."

Having the girls to care for during those times might actually have helped Mrs. Beppler because it kept her busy, said her oldest daughter, 28-year-old Brooke.

"She couldn't just sit and like wallow in ... how bad it was," Brooke said. "Like, she had to get up and take care of us. She had to take us to school. She had to make our lunch."

Despite those hardships, Mrs. Beppler made sure her daughters had plenty of happy childhood memories. Her children recalled how their mother planned yearly family trips to the beach, outings to amusement parks and a lake cabin and took them on an annual search for a Christmas tree.

"She never was the type to just plop us in front of the TV and just do her own thing," Maura said. "She always made sure that we had a good time. She always provided us with everything that we ever needed. She always made holidays a lot of fun."

Passing down traditions, as well as the importance of spending time with her children, was something Mrs. Beppler learned from her own mother. Even though Brooke and Maura have moved out of their family home, the Bepplers still routinely gather together for meals there.

"I just wanted them to have memories and just (be able to) look back at their childhood and realize that they enjoyed it and had a good time," Mrs. Beppler said.

And today, she has a chance to pass on traditions to Brooke's daughters, 5-year-old Olivia and 10-month-old Lilah. Mrs. Beppler said she was thrilled when she learned she would be a grandmother.

"It's such a joy," she said.

Brooke said her mother treats Olivia and Lilah like they are her own daughters. Mrs. Beppler always wanted the best for her children, Brooke recalled, and that makes her want to do everything she can for her own kids.

"Anything I learned about being like a mom, I learned from her growing up," she said, wiping away tears.

Lauren, who said she and her mother have grown even closer since her sisters moved out, noted how Mrs. Beppler raised them "in a loving way."

"She's very encouraging," Lauren said.

While she might not have liked her mother's rules as a child, Maura said, they have made her a better person.

"I'm 24 and I've moved out, and I still text her or call her when I get home from being out with my friends, just because ... I know that's how she is," she said.

And Mrs. Beppler still is the one her daughters turn to, even as adults.

"If something happens, I don't call, like, my fiance. I call her," Brooke said. "Like, even when I was having my kids, I said if I was only allowed one person there (in the hospital), he had to wait outside, because she was going to be in there."

Raising three daughters has been a challenge, Mrs. Beppler said, "but I've been blessed. ... I'm very lucky to have the girls I do have."

"I'm just so proud of them," she said. "It makes me feel like I've done my job, a good job, and they can really go out on their own now and have their own family and be a good mother to (their) children."

My mother, Colleen, is the most amazing influence in my life. She is supportive, loving and caring. She hasn't had the easiest life but always manages to keep our family together. She was there for me when I thought no one was and got me through every bump in the road. My dad battled cancer not once but twice, and she had to be the brave one for her three daughters, even if she was breaking down inside. She lost her mother and brother six months apart, and that is when I realized she wasn't just my mother, she was my hero. She has been through it all. She does everything for everyone and doesn't expect anything in return. She is a beautiful, amazing and kind-hearted person. She loves her children and grandchildren. She has raised us to be wonderful young women, and I hope to be half the mother she is. I would love for her to be chosen because it would be a small thank you from me because I'm so lucky to have her as my mommy. Two hundred words just aren't enough to show how amazing she really is.

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